Maximo 2 (vs Army of Zin)

[Vaipon]

Anyone getting the new Maximo game from CAPCOM? I absolutely loved the original to bits, one of the most well-designed 3d platformers on the PS2. Also one of my favorite US developed games ever, it was very slick and fun to play, combining 2d and 3d play mechanics. I've just put in a pre-order for the sequel released on 18th Sept. Here is a summary of the improvements in case anyone else is interested in this game... (source: Gamespy)

- Brand new game engine running at constant 60fps, with far higher scenery detail and better fx.

- All the moves from the first game are available from the beginning, with additional ones to unlock. Proper combos are possible now, allowing juggles, links etc. (sounds like there will be room for style like DMC then)

- Shield is now invinsible, allowing blocking to be used as a permanent gameplay technique.

- Ledge-hang move, similar to tomb-raider/MGS2. Allows Maximo to reach secret areas and make large jumps.

- New "boxer shorts" abilities, including Treasure-seeker shorts to allow the locating of hidden chests and bonuses.

- Permanent power-ups, which you keep after you lose a life instead of losing them.

- Innocents that have to be saved. When you release them, they will often give you bonus items or keys etc.

- Susumu Matshu****a character design, just like the first game. The new clockwork zin are supposed to have brilliant animation. In the "steampunk" style apparently.

- You can now play as Grimm for limited periods, and really dish it out.

I think it sounds great, although the only thing I'm a little worried about is the difficulty. There were many people who thought the first game was too hard, but I found it just about right in terms of fair-ness and balance. I'm sure that they will probably make the sequel a little easier, so I'm hoping it will still be challenging. I'm sure there will be a difficuly select anyway to assist in this. Maximo just "feels" right to play, like all good arcade games should. Hopefully the second installment won't be a dissapointment. Here is the gamespy article this info was taken from.

Anyone else buying this then?

[Papercut]

I'll probably be getting this, I loved the first game too.

I agree with what you said about the difficulty, the first game felt just right to me too.

Saw Zin at the Playstation Experience, can't say it looked all that different from the first game (not a bad thing). The section I saw, Maximo was wondering around chatting to villagers and buying stuff from a shopkeeper.

[Spatial]

I'm looking forward to this one

Is there any firm release date for it yet ?

I heared it was October / November `ish`

Edit :- Doh ! Just re-read the original post, but still not sure if its coming out as soon as the middle of next month.

[Bleeders]

Yeah, I'll be getting this no doubt.

Loved the first one.

[Cacophanus]

I played this a few days ago. Seems a little unfinished and was a bit sluggish too, bar that it was nice stuff. If the final game is anywhere near as good as the first I will be one happy piggy.

[Vaipon]

Good to know there are a load of fellow Maximo fans on the boards then.

With regards to the release date, I've seen a few different ones from various sources. Lik-sang have it down as 1st Oct. Play-asia have it as "Sometime in Sept". Gamespy are listing 18th Sept. CAPCOM Japan's Maximo2 site lists as 18th Sept also. I think we're probably looking at 18th for the Japanese version, and a little later for the Asian release.

Here is the official link to CAPCOM's site (Japanese):

http://www.capcom.co.jp/maximo_zin/

There is a gameplay video on that site (Papercut is right, it doesn't look a lot different than the first game except for a couple of extra moves and nicer lighting).

[D-SG]

With regards to the release date, I've seen a few different ones from various sources.

Sadly, they're all wrong - it's been delayed until early 2004. CURSES!

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/425/425879p1.html

There is a gameplay video on that site (Papercut is right, it doesn't look a lot different than the first game except for a couple of extra moves and nicer lighting).

In person, it's a visual jump over the first one, especially in its colour depth (and the first was pretty vivid for the humble PS2 anyway), and there's a lot more going on. It really is BIGGER! BETTER! MORE! of the first, and it's a beautiful thing.

[Garibaldi Biscuit]

At first I found the difficulty to be horrendous, but I realised I was just out of practise and then became very fond of the game's demands on it's player to be alert and with great reactions at all times.

Sad, yet somehow inevitable that it's to be toned down.

Invincible shield? Noooooo! I loved having a shield that broke, it meant that blocking or throwing the shield both became tactical moves, you couldn't perpetually hide behind it.

Apart from these two potential annoyances, looking forward to it.

[Vaipon]

Sadly, they're all wrong - it's been delayed until early 2004. CURSES!

Just think that's the US version mate. The article says:

Technically speaking, Maximo Vs. The Army of Zin appears in Japan first, in September, and it's not actually being delayed at all. The North American version will then follow in January 2004, as Capcom will need time to locaize the text for the English-speaking market.

Amazon.com are listing Jan 2004 for the US release too, so I only think that version is delayed. Hope so anyway.

At first I found the difficulty to be horrendous, but I realised I was just out of practise and then became very fond of the game's demands on it's player to be alert and with great reactions at all times.

Totally agree. All Maximo demanded was that you paid attention to it. After playing countless other 3d platformers where you could literally breeze through without really trying, it was a breath of fresh air to play one which actually demanded some proper co-ordination and effort. As long as they put a skill select in the new one I guess players of all abilities will be catered for.

[D-SG]

Just think that's the US version mate. The article says:

Technically speaking, Maximo Vs. The Army of Zin appears in Japan first, in September, and it's not actually being delayed at all. The North American version will then follow in January 2004, as Capcom will need time to locaize the text for the English-speaking market.

So it does. Which is a little bizarre when the original page claimed

"We have until January to make sure everything turns out right," said Mark Rogers of Capcom Studio 8, "and we're going to use every bit of that time to do it."

as opposed to "translation time" - and even stranger considering that both Maximo games are developed by Capcom's US studio anyway (the uncharacteristically superb PAL conversion was courtesy of an English programmer on the team). The Japanese release of the original game came well after the Western release.

Oh well, I'll wait for the English language ver anyway.

[Vaipon]

I got my copy of Maximo 2 this morning. So far it's looking excellent. Graphics are definitely quite a bit better than the first game, with excellent rain effects and a silky smooth 60fps engine. It looks a lot smoother than the first game too as they have added anti-aliasing this time round. Music is great, orchestral fantasy stuff. The opening level is set in a stormy village which has been ransacked by the zin. Thunder, lightening, and partially destroyed houses etc make up the scenery. The combat feels a bit more frantic now, with encounters against groups of enemies taking place often, but not a hint of slowdown. They have added a first person mode so you can look around certain areas more easily. The cutscenes are all voiced in English, so no problems understanding what the story is for non-Japanese speaking people. The combo system works like DMCs, you can keep it going for more points and you get a rating depending on how big it was. There are lots of "mini" cutscenes during play in this game too, where you get ambushed or fight sub-bosses. If you were a fan of the first game, then you're gonna love this as it's essentially more of the same but with new moves and better audio/video.

Btw, there is a skill level setting. NORMAL and HARD modes are selectable at the start of the game. A lot of people were concerned that they may have made the sequel a little easier and thus ruined the challenge. Hopefully the additional skill level should accomodate for this.

[Shibusawa jr.]

Thanks for the impressions Vaipon. Really look forward to playing this game (big fan of the first Maximo as well). Nice to hear about the improvements but I'm slightly worried about the music. Are they samples of the original or totally new tunes. Just asking because the music in the original was brilliant imo.

[Vaipon]

Thanks for the impressions Vaipon. Really look forward to playing this game (big fan of the first Maximo as well). Nice to hear about the improvements but I'm slightly worried about the music. Are they samples of the original or totally new tunes. Just asking because the music in the original was brilliant imo.

Sounds like totally new tunes, but in a similar style to the first game, it's all very well produced though. The instrument samples are very nice, creating an epic orchestral score.

Couple more things...

There is now a map screen similar to Mario World, where you can re-visit earlier levels and go for a higher percentage and stuff. This replaces the hub level in the first game.

There is a gallery which seems to work similar to the one in Soul Calibur where you unlock items depending on performance. Should be fun going for 100%.

The shield is indeed indestructable, but it has a "power bar" so you can't just throw it around indefinitely. Once this bar has run out, you are restricted to bog-standard blocks only.

There are now civilians to rescue, and they reward you with items,keys and gold. On several occasions, I've seen the enemy zin soldiers ignore me completely and try to kill the innocents. If you don't save them in time you will lose whatever bonus they had. You also have to rescue them from other situations, like bashing down doors to vindicate people trapped in burning buildings etc.

I'm loving it. I don't see why the US version is delayed because of supposed localisation though. As I have said, all the dialogue in the cutscenes is already in English. Very odd. They may add bonus modes to the Western release I suppose...

[Che Musashi]

I read on Gamefaqs that the all the stuff you can equip is in Japanese and that it makes it hard to tell what does what. I think after I catch up on some games I'm going to get this one. Waiting until February just isn't right.

Are the menus in Engrish or Japanese?

[Vaipon]

There are a couple of bits of Japanese in it, but nothing that stops you from playing or finishing it. The main menu is in Japanese, but it's simple to figure out those options (stereo/mono, volume, screen pos, controller etc).

The only other Japanese is at the shop screens. All the item names are in Japanese, but there aren't very many items anyway and most of them you pick up in the main game so you can figure out what they do easily (armour, health drink, shield recharge etc). There are hint-scrolls which are in Japanese that you can purhcase from the shop, but they can't be that important as I've already killed the first two major bosses without reading a single one of them (about 11 levels in). If you're thinking of importing it, go ahead. The Japanese isn't very important to the game at all, and (unlike Maximo1) all the story sections are full English.